1. Technical Field
This non-limiting exemplary embodiment(s) relates to fin covers and, more particularly, to a fin cover for protecting the environment from various types of water vessel fins during transport of the water vessels such as surfboards, water skis and water boards, for example.
2. Prior Art
It is widely recognized that water vehicles that glide over water, such as surfboards, wakeboards, etc., have fins that extend downward into the water. Protective covers are often placed over the fins when the boards are not in use to protect them from being damaged, or to protect them from damaging other property.
Over the years, surfing boards and sail boards have evolved from solid wood paddle and surfboards to today's modern, ultra-light polyurethane foam and fiberglass composition structures. Although their maneuverability has increased as their weight decreased, the newer surfboard compositions have a significant drawback in their susceptibility to damage from abrasive materials, cracking, stress fractures and impact. Such damage does more than merely detract from the visual appearance of this relatively expensive athletic equipment. Rather, the areas most vulnerable to such damage, the side rails and the fins, are essential for effective control of the surfboard in the water. Disruption of the carefully crafted contours of the rail edges through damage causes unwanted drag which affects the balance, maneuverability and performance of the surfboard.
Moreover, crack and impact damage tend to focus the stresses of the board to the damaged area causing the injury to grow and expose more of the fragile porous foam inner core. As a result, the exposed core of a damaged surfboard is prone to the absorption of sea water which dramatically changes the symmetrical balance and handling of the board.
In the past, the majority of such damage was incurred through contact with rocks and other hard obstacles located on the sea shore when an unattended board was washed ashore by wave action after the rider was thrown from the board. However, modern day surfers utilize a tether to strap the surfboard to one of their ankles in order to prevent this occurrence. As a result, the majority of damage to modern day surfboards is incurred during storage and transit.
Prior art methods to deal with these problems have tended to involve relatively heavy, bulky, rigid surfboard cases provided with collapsible foam liners which encase the board much like a modern day guitar case. Aside from the bulk and expense of these rigid surfboard transportation cases, a serious drawback is the inability to store the case itself in a convenient location after the board has been removed for use. Such rigid cases are also difficult to mount on conventional automobile surfboard roof racks, especially when stacked in tandem, which is a common occurrence with unprotected boards.
Accordingly, a need remains for protective fin cover in order to overcome prior art shortcomings. The present disclosure satisfies such a need by providing a fin cover that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, versatile in its applications, and designed for shielding an environment from the edges and tips of a water vessel fin.